The poetics of Gĩkũyũ Mwomboko poetry: a case study of selected performing artistes

Abstract

This study focuses on the Mwomboko poetry, which emerged in 1940s among the Gĩkũyũ community. It represents the socio-historical origins and emergent dance styles. The central focus of the study is analysis of style and literary devices, aspects of performance and aesthetic values embodied in the compositions by selected performing artistes. Nevertheless, an analytical study of various musical works and listening to recorded cassettes on Mwomboko gives impetus to our findings. The researcher has coined and adapted a multiethnocultural approach whereby: dance, drama, song, language and philosophy that embraces the social interaction of communities and appreciation of each other's ways of life. The study demonstrates that Mwomboko poetry is rich in stylistic devices: irony, satire, metaphor, simile, metonymy and structural devices; repetition, parallelism, tonal patterns and rhyme. This study proves that these tools are the vehicles of literary communication in the community and society. Stylistic and extra-literay features are invaluable properties for the conduct of poetic discourse. Oral poets are the mouthpieces of the Gĩkũyũ community and its neighbouring communities: Embu, Meru and Kamba who cherish this cultural heritage. The multicultural nature of Mwomboko is further depicted in the incorporation of Waltz and Scottish dance art forms. The Luo, Luhya and Miji Kenda touches proves that Mwornboko represents historical, political, cultural, religious and economic realities in Kenya. The guiding light in this study is ethnomethodolo / ethnopoetics, stylistics, semiotic and multiethnoculturalogy approaches in uncovering the literariness in Mwomboko poetry. This project affirms that oral literature is not disappearing but thrives even today and it is a means of recording historical and educational events, which are relevant and popular in contemporary society. It is a demonstration that poetry and society are inseparable entities in humankind.